Navi Mumbai: Six days after a bike-borne man opened fire at RTI activist Amit Maurya (40) and builder Sandeep Gavas (44) in Airoli, crime branch unit I arrested five men, including the alleged shooter and the ‘mastermind’.A police officer privy to the case claimed that the shooter Rahul alias Pawan Sahani (38), was hired by Gurfan Khan (47), who runs a bakery in Airoli and is also into construction business. Gurfan was Gavas’s partner in his construction business in gaothan areas in Airoli till 2016. Thereafter, they severed ties due to monetary dispute. Police claimed that Gurfan nursed a grudge against Gavas for lodging police complaints about his ‘illegal’ constructions in gaothan areas by seeking information through RTI with Maurya’s help.Police said that after Gurfan learnt that Sahani was released after serving 11 years in jail in a MCOCA case registered against him by Mumbai Police, he hired Sahani for contract killing of Gavas.The other arrested accused were Sayyad Khan (45), who allegedly stole the bike from Sanpada two days before the firing incident, and Nerul resident Nagesh Mane (45), who allegedly paid Sayyad for the stolen bike and gave it to Sahani, and Airoli resident Vishal Mahadik (40), who had providing information to the shooter about the Gavas’ location. Police said Mahadik too nursed a grudge against Gavas whom he suspected was behind registering ‘false’ criminal cases against him, including Atrocities Act and bodily injury by unlawful assembly, due to which he was externed from Navi Mumbai police jurisdiction.The firing incident took place on April 6, around 11.45 pm, when Maurya and Gavas were standing near their parked car in Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Rahivasi chawl area in Airoli Sector 1. The bike-borne assailant, who was wearing a helmet, fired four rounds from a pistol. While one bullet pierced Maurya’s neck, two hit the car’s windscreen, and one bullet fired in the direction of Gavas hit the roadside wall as he ran for his life. Sahani later abandoned the bike near Mumbra railway station.Maurya was initially rushed to a local hospital in Airoli. As his condition was critical, he was shifted to Fortis Hospital in Mulund, where he is currently recuperating after being shifted from the ICU to general ward.Police obtained around 2,700 mobile numbers from dump data records of mobile tower locations on the escape route of the unidentified bike-borne shooter to zero in on him.Police first arrested Mane from Nerul, who then revealed the locations of Sayyad and Sahani, who were arrested from Malvani in Malad. A police team camped in the area for two days as Sahani’s mobile phone was switched off. When his phone was switched on for sometime on Saturday night, it was tracked and Sahani was apprehended. They then led police to the remaining two accused, including the ‘mastermind’ Gurfan.Sayyad has robbery and dacoity cases registered against him at police stations in Surat for targeting vehicles on the Mumbai-Surat highway, police said.
